Chris Wolak

Sunday Salon: What’s Been Going On

Paddling through Lilly Pads in Guilford, CT

New Job:
Last month I landed a new job, one that falls perfectly inline with my plan of taking over the world…um…I mean living a healthier lifestyle. I’m doing events and marketing for a family owned organic & natural supermarket chain here in CT. I was hired on Earth Day, which was rather auspicious. My first task was the grand opening of a new store–it was last Saturday and went very well–which didn’t leave me with much time or energy for blogging so I’ve been a bit out of the book blogging loop, but I’m loving the job and learning so much about organic and natural food/products. Laura and I have been striving to eat healthier and cook more, so this is a perfect fit.

Currently Reading: Blossoms and Bayonets: A Story of Love, Faith, and Courage under Japanese Occupation by Jana McBurney-Lin and Hi-Dong Chai.

This is the story of a Korean family during WWII told from the perspective of an eight year old boy, his fifteen year old brother, and their mother. Its a fascinating look into what one Korean family goes through during Japanese occupation. I know so little about Korea and its history. I’m just about halfway through it and look forward to getting back to it whenever I have reading time. Its books like this that make me love online book tours, because its highly improbable that I would have come across this book on my own. I’m reading it for TLC Book Tours.  

Recently Read:
If you’re looking for a novella to read, something on the creepy side with a dysfunctional family theme, I recommend Disquiet by Australian writer Julia Leigh. It’s set on an old family estate in contemporary rural France. Its one of those hard little gems that you want to re-read as soon as you finish it in order to admire the writing even more.
 

Coming Up:


1. Due to the new job, I’m not going to be a participant in ArmchairBEA this year, but I did sign up to be a cheerleader. Can’t wait to read tons of great posts this coming week!
2. I’m participating in my first Literary Giveaway Blog Hop (June 21-25) hosted by Judith (@leeswammes on Twitter). In the past I’ve always come upon these hops when they’re over. I happened to be on Twitter at the right time to catch this one well in advance of the start date. I’ve been browsing my shelves contemplating which books to giveaway.

What’s been going on in your reading life these days?

14 comments

  5. Hi Chris! Thanks for visiting my blog as part of ABEA. I'm happy to have discovered your blog. And I'll join everyone in congratulating you on the new job!

    Reply

  6. Sorry that you weren't able to participate in BEA but congrats on the new job. I really love that picture you posted above. I love the outdoors and wish there was a place close by that I could go out on a boat and just paddle around. Amazing!

    Reply

  7. Thanks! We just moved to the area in December–one of the reasons we chose the location was to live a more outdoorsy lifestyle. So far, so good!

    Reply

  13. Congratulations on the new job!

    Knowing a bit of Korean history, I have a fairly good idea of what life was like under Japanese occupation. It's a horror that is still in living memory, though fading (as these things always do). Even today the relationship between Japan and Korea can be a little tense at least when it comes to certain issues (Comfort Women, Dokdo island). I'm always on the lookout for new books about Korean history so I'll have to add Blossoms and Bayonets to the list. Thanks for the recommendation!

    Reply

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